Automatic gain control system



Sept. 25, 1951 E. L. CLARK 2,569,289

AUTOMATIC GAIN CONTROL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 31, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l R 1K Y o f M E N m ff W 6 I T uw Mk m m S N QQN n L MSR QN n Y I l I l l I l I I I l I l l l l l I I I l l .m B .YSQ Mk .e M d Nm H A M MSSS m n NN/ YN. W QV i. Sw

Sept. 25, 1951 E. L. CLARK AUTOMATIC GAIN c oNTRoL SYSTEM Filed Aug. 31, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 25, 1951 LD. 'I

Y Edwin L. Clark, Cnllingsvroolk N'. Jf., assignonio V Badin Ccrncraticn of America, aeomoratinn APpliatiQnAugust 3.1 1945.3. Seria! Nef @1.33.72 f' claim. Y(c1. 25d-2Q). Y

The present invention relates generally toauto.-V matic gai/n controlesystems orv A. V:C..systems,A Y and more particularly, .but not necessarily execluively-, to` improvementsin such` systems to.

make them especially. usefulY in television ree,

ceiversY or the like.

In accordance with the-.1nvention,.an A. Y; C.

voltage. is provided which! isindependentof scene.v

' apparatus in which itis emplcyedi'. lil.. De

understood. that the apparatus justreierr may be. equipment for producing va teleyi l Y image or. generalv indicatingl equipment. suchV as radardevices. 'f 'l Accordingly, it is a primaryobject offthe pres`4 4ent invention to. provide a system fordern/.11.1 an A. c. voltage which is independent ritenne..

andwh-ich. may be der-iyed in. Such a man nerfas. tobeunaffected by undesired .receiyedjsignai. components. ordinarily referred: to .as fneise-i:Z`

.Another object isV to provide Van imprinted A. Vf. C. system employing a 4direct current ampli-e. enionthe. developed. A. Vf. C. voltage.,

Y furtherA` object is to provide,A a novel A.

system hav-ing incorporated therein. a .cQnLXTaSt produced image.

Al still-further object is to 'provide`v a. .combi-nage` tion of. cooperating electrical circuits, each. circuithaying a time constant-which is-related` in a special way with another circuit in the combinastil-1 tur-ther object is toprovide a novel com. hination en'ircuits, the time constants on which are relatedin such a manner toaV characteristic.

f the received signalY that n oise components. are..

inertectivef to vary the .derived A. V. C. voltage.

@ther objects and advantages vof the-present invention will. rofcourse, become apparent and immediately suggest` themselves. to. thoseskilled in the art to which the invention isfdi'irected.l from a .reading ofv the following s pecificatior-i` in connection with the accompanying drawing in.-

Figfl is.- a representation et an assumed-Signat control-foreffecting changes in contrastv in, the.

wave` form referred to Icy-Way oil example inde-.,-

scribingsthe invention;- and: w-

Fig. 2 is a schematic disclosure of an A.' 0. system. .in accordance with the. invention.

Figi. 1- shows the general characteristics of.: a.

' transmitted:.signalzsuchi asis derived when scan.-

ning an. image tov produce. image signalsand com: bining. control signals with. .the image signals. The. signal depicted by. Eig.. 1 will be recognized as the familiar television o1: video signal which is transmitted to mores-or.. less. remote receivers.

byamplitude. modulating `a. radio frequency. carrier. The A. C. system. of this. invention. is, intended to function effectively While. receiving; asignal.. of: the. general characteristics ofv Eig. v1 inv .which there. is a recurring peakamplitudeiml dicated at the points l2. It will be. understood that theinvention may be. employed effectively. in electrical apparatus designed to receive. signalsincluding.. modulating components of the general.

natureof Fig. l, characterized byrecurring peaks originally of constant amplitude but subject to. attenuation in., transmission. Such attenuation is. offset effectivelyf-by.1 apparatus in accordancewith the. present invention without regard to` random components of greater amplitude than the ampli;

tudeofxthe. received: signals even in the absence.,

oi: modulation.

.More in detail,. the. signal. .of Fig. 1. includes,`

blanking signals. ll.: and. horizontal. syncpulses Iii.y The zero`A axis of Fig; 1 represents 100 per.y cent modulation of .a carrier in these-,called whitel direction to. represent lighter orf white portionsofthe image, and peaks of'theblanking signals. I! correspond to thesignalllevel when scanningblack portions of the. image. The image. signal representations I8 and 2|, respectivelyare. indicative of image signals generated upon scanningof.y light and dark portions, respectively, ofi

an image of a scene or the; like. The. descrip;- tioniminediately foregoing applies to the. socalled. negative. modulation process. words.' .the synchronizing, or more commonly, termed "syncf impulses (which arefin the blaclly direction. and which` Vare the so-called blackerf thaneblack or. ultra black pulses) produce, maximum amplitudeof the carrier Wave. The.

system ofthisinvention is equally effective. for:

positive. modulation signals. A comparison of the portions |8and 2| o'f'the curve of Fig. 1.- shows that a change from a dark portion ofthe` image to a light portion of the image does not cause a change VinI the amplitude or the level of the sync pulses. It follows that any variation in the height of thesync pulse carrier components In other:

3 be result of fading or attenuation of the transmitted modulated carrier signal. The A. V. C. voltage derived by apparatus embodying features of the present invention has a value which is independent of the scene or background f the image being transmitted when the carrier is modulated. The waveforms, signal levels, and pulse forms are shown only in an illustrative sense and as an aid to describing the operation of the invention and are not intended to represent exact values or even the exact sequence of events in the operation of apparatus embodying the invention.

Referring now to Fig. 2, there is illustrated a portion of a television receiver ofV the superheterodyne type comprising the usual first detector 23, a tunable oscillator 24, an intermediate frequency amplifier 26, to bereferred to as the I. F. amplifier, and a second detector 28. The output of the second detector 28 is furnished to avideo amplifier and a sync separator (neither shown) or to other equipment to be energized by the received and demodulated signals. 2

' A diode 3| is coupled to one of the stages of,V

denser 39 which, considered as a series combina-4 tion of a resistor and a condenser, has atime. constant which is approximately equal to the time of one horizontal line of the scanned tele` vision image, or the time between the sync vsignals I2, so that the diode 3| serves as a peak detector at intermediate frequency. TheA detected signal is of positive polarity as applied to .the control grid 42 of an amplifier tube 44.'

- The plate 48 of the tube 44 is connected by way of' a load resistor 50 to a common return point such as ground, or to a source of relatively low positive potential by way of a connection 52, depending upon the type of tube selected. The voltage effective at the connection 52 will be selected so that the tube 44 operates as an am.-V plier on a substantially linear portion of itsV characteristic curve. The cathode 54 of the tube 44 is connected to the adjustable contact of a potentiometer 56, the latter being connected in series with a resistor 58 to serve as a voltage divider. The potentiometer 56 and the resistor 58 are connected by way of the previously mene.

tioned connection 46 to the source of lnegative biasing potential, the connection being completed by grounding the resistor. ,v

The plate voltage for the amplifier tube 44 is applied between its cathode 54 and ground, its plate 48 being at or nearly at .ground potential. The'operating grid bias for the tube is obtained by varying the position of the return connection 55 for the cathode 54 on the bleeder 56 and 58.V This is done by varying the contact point of. the potentiometer 56. Thus, the IR` drop across the portion of potentiometer 56 between its contact 'point and end 45 is applied as a bias be-v tween the grid 42 and the cathode 54 of the tube 44.

A second diode 6| is connected across the developed positive biaswhich is applied to the grid 42 of the tube, Its cathode 62 is connected end 68 of the cathode load resistor and that a direct physical connection exists to the source of negative biasing potential in communication with the connection 46. The circuit of the grid 42 contains a relatively long time constant resistance and capacity combination 1| and 12. By way of example, the time constant of the R.C. combination may be one thousand times that of the R,'.C. combination :E8- 39.

The output of the amplifier 44 is connected forwardly to a suitable control point in the apparatus such as the I., F. amplifier 26 Yover a connection I4. The plate of the amplifier 48, it

will be understood, is negative with respect to be connected in the output circuit of the tube.

44. In the arrangement shown by Way of example, the resistor 16 is partof a plate voltage divider and may be omitted where the source 52 is of suitable voltage. Y

In operation of the system described herein, signals corresponding to Fig. 1 modulated on a carrier are received.v ThisY modulated carrier is.

changed in frequency inthe usual manner in the first detector, and is transmitted through the I. F. amplier 26. This I. F. signal which is, in effect, a carrier signal modulated by a signal similar to that of Fig. 1, is applied in a positive directionv to the' plate 36-of the rectifier 3|. Itwill be seenv from the foregoing description that this rectifier- 3| servesv as a peak detector at intermediate.

frequency. `The voltage produced is indicated by the dotted curve E1 on Fig. 1 on the drawings.

'Ihe grid 42 of vthe amplifier 44 is biased, for

example, negatively and the peak signal, after transmission by the R.C. combination 1| and 12,.

changes this bias.` An increase in amplitude of the received carrier signal increases thevow of plate current in the resistor 50, and a more negative bias, therefore, is applied to the I. F. amplifier` 26 by way of the conductor 14. y

The diode 6|, which is connected across -the positive bias developed by operation of the diode- 3l is biased in such a way that for normal signals the grid 42 of the amplifier tube 44 will receive all of the developed bias voltage. However, Vit

large noise pulses, such as the one indicated byr reference character 8| on Fig. l, are present, the diode 6| will become conductive and limit their amplitude, vthus preventing the condenser 12 from charging up onnoise and increasing the A. V. C. produced..

The clipping level provided by the setting of the diode 6| Yand indicated on Fig. 1 by the dotted line 83 is adjusted to allow the maximum usable contrast to be obtained with a given image producing tube or Kinescope when the potentiometer 56 is used as a contrast control. The clipping level 83 may be high since the time constant of the first R.C. combination 38-39 is short and the noise voltage dissipates rapidly. Noise such as the noise pulse 8| is clipped and does not extend beyond the line 83 as shown by its dotted upper portion.

The potentiometer 56, as stated above, is used as a contrast control in accordance with the invention. This varies the delay bias on ythe ampliiier tube 44 thus changing the amount of A. V. C. bias developed and thus varying the video signal produced at the second detector 28.

It is to be noted that while the condenser 39 charges up approximately to peaks I2 of sync that with a time constant equal to the time between successive peaks, the condenser will tend to lose its charge as indicated by the curve E1 (Fig. 1). Therefore, the time constant of the diode circuit in conjunction with the long time constant of the R.C. combination 'H and 12 in the grid circuit of the tube 44 produces an average positive bias from the I. F. signal modulation. But in addition to the positive bias from the modulation, the direct current produced by the carrier is also positive and is applied to the grid 42. As stated above, the diode time constant is long enough at intermediate frequency to make it a peak detector. The resultant is equivalent to a peak detector regardless of the scene or percentage of modulation. It will be noted that when the diode 6l conducts on noise that a dilerential voltage will be developed across the resistor 38 thus enhancing operation of the device.

solely by way of example, it may be assumed that the connection 46 is at a point which is at 100 volts negative with respect to a reference point in the circuit, such as ground. and that the potentiometers 56 and 63 have a resistance of 2,000 ohms each. Also, that the resistor 58 has a value of 33,000 ohms. If, for example, a type 6AQ6 tube is employed for the tube 44, the connection 52 may be in communication with a source of positive potential of 30 volts above ground. The resistor 38 of the first R.C. combination may have a value of 22,000 ohms, and the condenser 39 a value of .004 mfd. The resistor 1I of the second R.C. combination may have a value of 470,000 ohms and the condenser 12 a value of .1 mfd. The load resistors 50 and 16 in the plate circuit of the tube 44 may have values of 470,000 and 220,000 ohms. These values are given by way of example only as having been found satisfactory in an A. V. C. system constructed and operated in accordance with the invention.

Having now described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is the following:

An automatic gain control system for a radio receiver having a carrier signal amplifier, said system comprising a unilaterally conducting device, means to furnish signals from said carrier signal amplifier to said unilaterally conducting device, a resistor and condenser combination connec'ted across said unilaterally conducting device whereby to provide a peak detector at the frequency of the carrier signal amplied by said amplifier, a second unilaterally conducting device having a cathode and an anode effectively connected across said resistor and condenser combination, an electron tube having at leastJ a cathode, an anode and a control electrode, a voltage source having positive and negative terminals, a rst and second voltage divider connected in parallel across said voltage source terminals, each divider having adjustable taps, a direct current conducting connection from one of said taps to the cathode of said second unilaterally conducting device, a direct current conducting connection from said other tap to the cathode of said electron tube, a direct current conducting connection from said negative supply terminal through said resistor of said resistor and condenser combination to the grid of said tube and to the anode of said second unilaterally conductive device, the adjustment of said tap connected to the cathode of said second unilaterally conductive device providing a bias on said unilaterally conductive device of a magnitude to bias the unilaterally conductive device to non-conduction in the absence of noise exceeding an amplitude substantially in excess of the average signal level, a second resistor and condenser combination having a relatively long time constant whereby to integrate the voltage produced at said first named resistor and condenser combination, said last named resistor being included between the control electrode of said tube and the anode of said second unilaterally conductive device, said last named condenser being connected between the control electrode and cathode of said tube, and an output connection from the anode of said tube to said modulated wave amplifier whereby to control the gain of said amplifier independently of noise.

EDWIN L. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: Y

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,171,636 Seeley Sept. 6, 1939 2,179,111 Young Nov. 7, 1939 2,199,169 Dome Apr. 30, 1940 2,240,593 Wilson May 6, 1941 2,240,600 Applegarth May 6, 1941 2,246,947 Martinelli June 24, 1941 2,299,292 Allen Oct. 20, 1942 2,302,425 Deerhake Nov. 17, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 110,075 Australia Aug. 1, 1940 OTHER REFERENCES Rider, J. G.: Vacuum Tube Voltmeters, 1941, page 18. 

